Obituary: Sister Mary Nicholas Matro / High school attendance officer and team booster

Monday, May 05, 2003

By Linda Wilson Fuoco, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

Sister Mary Nicholas Matro was a familiar figure at all of the home games for the Centurions athletic teams of Greensburg Central Catholic High School. For years, the games started with Sister Matro presiding over an honorary coin toss.

Sister Matro, 77, died Thursday of cardiac arhythmia at Caritas Christi, the motherhouse of the Sisters of Charity in Greensburg.

She did clerical work at the high school, including functioning as attendance officer, from 1979 to 1998. In addition to her official duties, she also ran the faculty football pools, said Sister Bridget Marie Grandey, high school principal from 1994 to 2002.

"She loved sports and she loved the students," Grandey said. "She went to all of the home games for every sport, and some of the away football games. She always brought a giant rosary with brown beads as big as marbles. We think she prayed for the teams, and the teams had excellent records."

Sister Matro was born in Crabtree and entered the Sisters of Charity in 1946 from St. Bartholomew Parish in Crabtree. She earned a bachelor's degree in education from Seton Hill University and taught in elementary schools for 32 years in Altoona, Bloomfield, Greensburg, Lawrenceville, Oakmont, Swissvale, West End and in Arizona.

In 1996, she received the Faculty Cup, presented by the Greensburg Central alumni association in recognition of her years of service and devotion to students.

"As attendance officer, she dealt with students who were tardy," Grandey said. "She was strict. She didn't bend any rules, but somehow the students always knew she loved them."

Survivors include three sisters, Anna Marie McFeeley of Greensburg, Evelyn Kohl of Atlanta and Eleanor Yearsley of Export; and a brother, Nicholas P. Matro of Crabtree.

Friends will be received from 2 to 6:45 p.m. today and tomorrow , at Caritas Christi, 459 Mount Thor Road, Greensburg. The Mass will be celebrated tomorrow at 7 p.m. at Chapel of the Assumption, Caritas Christi. Burial will be in the Sisters' Cemetery, Seton Hill, Greensburg.

Memorial contributions can be made to the Sisters of Charity, De Paul Center, 463 Mount Thor Road, Greensburg 15601.